It will definitely be more fun in the Philippines online once the Google Manila office becomes fully operational. This perhaps is the general feeling among many Filipino tech and online aficionados who see the enormous benefits of a Google office right in the heart of Manila. The office unit is located somewhere in Makati and was used as the venue for the launch.

The Google Manila office was officially launched January 23, 2013 (Wednesday) as the fifth Google office in the Southeast Asian region which has an estimated 600 million population, a good percentage of which are online aficionados.

Narciso Reyes, erstwhile Philippine head of sales of the gargantuan online search company, is now the country manager for the new outfit. And the company is said to be in for the long haul as Julian Persaud intimated at the launch. That seems to be the cause of gaiety among Net enthusiasts anticipating big things from this development. Persaud is managing director of Google for Southeast Asia.

Key Market

According to Google, the Philippines is a “key market” in the fastest growing region in the world, Southeast Asia. And the Internet population here is reportedly increasing at an ideal rate, considering its increasingly digital economy and tech and computer literate citizenry. Thus, the setting up of the Google Manila office.

The office will allow the company deal better with its Philippine and Asian clientele, considering that more than 33 million Filipinos use the Internet on a regular basis. With the coming of Google to Manila the number of users is expected to increase exponentially, Persaud averred.

Free Zone Offering

Google has a so-called “free zone offering” for the Philippines where its services are adapted to weak Internet connections here and other less reliable internet service providers. This was a welcome development for the government as reflected from what Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III commented. In general, he said, the Google Manila office would serve as a witness to its commitment to the country. This development would hopefully persuade more local businesses to start going online and benefiting from international markets, he added.

Job Opening

This is where most of the anticipated fun comes from—the anticipated Google job opening. Sources said aside from positions already opened, more job listings are expected to come out online soon, specifically at http://www.google.com.ph/jobs.

Better Service Locally

The country manager specifically expressed the company’s desire to provide better services to Filipino online users and aiding businesses here of various sizes get established locally and internationally. That, Reyes felt, would do a lot to the economy. The other benefits of online global exposure would help local communities and their cultures as a whole, promoting further how it’s more fun in the Philippines online.

Update 2: Google Philippines’ PR agency reached out to us saying that the address mentioned above isn’t that of Google, but the PR agency’s. The agency declined to provide the exact office address of Google PH, saying, “we’re not in the position to state their address”. Our sincere apologies for the error.